A Kitsap County citizens group has challenged the Kitsap County Commission's April vote to allow racetracks on property a Florida speedway developer is considering for a NASCAR track.

The 100-member group filed a lawsuit in Pierce County Superior Court and an appeal before the Central Puget Sound Growth Management Hearings Board on Wednesday. It wants the April decision overturned and the council's vote ruled illegal.

County officials say the commission voted in November 2003 to allow racetracks near the Bremerton National Airport, well before the International Speedway Corporation (ISC) had expressed interest in building an 80,000-seat NASCAR track on the property. But because of a clerical error, racetracks never made it into the county code.

When commissioners realized the error, they voted again in April to allow racetracks.

The residents who sued — Kitsap Citizens for Responsible Planning — say the county violated state laws requiring a chance for public comment. They say the commission never made it clear in the November 2003 meeting that they were discussing racetracks.

"There was no public process whatsoever about this zoning-code amendment," said Charlie Burrow, president of the citizens group. At the April meeting, residents who showed up to testify against allowing racetracks on the land were told their comments were "beyond the scope" of what was being considered that day, said Tom Donnelly, a member of the citizens group.

Commissioner Chris Endresen, who was chairwoman of the Kitsap County Commission in April, said she didn't remember the details of the hearing. But she said regardless of the ISC proposal, the April vote was just a housekeeping measure.

ISC officials announced in June they plan to build a NASCAR track on 900 acres near the airport.

Some Kitsap County residents have criticized the secrecy of negotiations between county officials and ISC, and last week the Kitsap County prosecuting attorney asked the state Attorney General's Office to look into whether a county traffic planner broke public-disclosure laws when he left his only copies of work he had done with the private Kitsap Regional Economic Development Council.

This is the second time ISC has tried to build a NASCAR track in the Northwest. A similar proposal in Snohomish County fell through late last year.

Emily Heffter: 425-783-0624 or eheffter@seattletimes.com